Automotive

 

 

 Fisker Coachbuild, LLC

 Powertrain engineering firm Quantum Technologies and Fisker Coachbuild are co-developing a four-door plug-in hybrid sedan. Quantum Technologies, publicly traded (QTWW), has done work for many companies, including Toyota, GM and NASA. “The sleek design accentuating the long hood is a direct result of our breakthrough chassis which carries the battery pack at the center of the vehicle between the two axles,” said Henrik Fisker, CEO of Fisker Automotive. “This positioning provides optimal vehicle driving dynamics, maximum safety, proportionate design as well as industry standard performance figures within this car class.”  Fisker is claiming the car will go 50 miles on a single charge, and 620 miles using the engine. Fisker says the car will get 100 mpg.

 

 

 

All New 2008 Mercedes C- class

  
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Mercedes announces new-generation 2008 C-class pricing

07 July 2007 - Mercedes-Benz USA LLC cut the cost of the upper trim levels of its new-generation 2008 C class but increased its base price $1,500. It will be available 07 August 2007 in sport and luxury trim levels that feature suspension tuning and distinctive front ends, interior trim and wheels.

* The 2008 C300 Sport costs $31,975, including shipping, an increase of $1,550. Mercedes-Benz says the car has considerably more standard equipment than its predecessor. The C300 Sport replaces the C230 Sport sedan. It has a 3.0-liter 228-hp V-6 engine, upgraded from the 2.5-liter V-6 in its predecessor.
* The 2008 C300 Luxury sedan price will begin at $33,675, $500 less than the current C280 Luxury model.
* The 2008 C350 Sport sedan has a base price of $37,275, down $1,500 from 2007.

Prices include shipping. Mercedes has dropped the C350 Luxury sedan.


 2007 MERCEDES-BENZ ML 320 CDI dispels diesel myths

  

 BASE PRICE: $44,455
 DRIVETRAIN: 3.0-liter, 215-hp, 398-lb-ft V6; AWD, seven-speed automatic
 CURB WEIGHT: 4817 lb
 0 TO 60 MPH: 7.9 sec (mfr)
 FUEL MILEAGE (EPA COMBINED/AW OBSERVED): 23/27.5 mpg

While the ML has always been a good ute, the diesel option makes it stellar.  The ML 320 CDI, even though the stats show it to have 215 hp, a number that seems too meager for hauling the 4817-pound SUV, has lots of  torque: 398 lb-ft is available over much of the rev range! At cruising speed, the engine purrs barely above idle; at 65 mph, it turns less than 2000 revs. Credit this in part to a seven-speed transmission (a five-speed with two overdrives). For the two weeks, it averaged 27.5 mpg, more than 4 mpg better than the EPA estimate.

Ask J.D. Power and Associates, which makes a living by forecasting such trends. Power predicts diesels will rise from today’s 3.2 percent share of first-time registrants to make up 15 percent in the United States by 2015. And Mercedes-Benz is doing all it can to fill that desire with a 3.0-liter, turbocharged, six-cylinder diesel stuffed into three models: E-, ML- and GL-Class.

Diesels are not new to Mercedes—the company has sold them here since 1960; during the 1980s, 80 percent of its U.S. sales were diesels. With relatively cheap gasoline prices, demand for diesels here waned, and the company stopped selling them in 1999.  In 2004, Mercedes renewed its diesel commitment. The ML we drove is 45-state legal. In 2008, Mercedes will roll out its BlueTec line of clean diesels; those powerplants will be legal in all 50 states.  The new diesels feature a particulate filter, and the engines must burn low-sulfur fuel, as federally mandated last Oct. 15; Mercedes diesels went on sale Oct. 16, 2007. To clean up emissions further, in 2008, the diesels will have a system that adds urea to the exhaust, making them as clean as gasoline engines.